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I have been wondering about these games, I do enjoy those old school RPGs. You had a crack at Avadon: The Black Fortress? I sunk 2 hours in it about 6 months ago,and then stopped playing for some reason, I think I enjoyed it.

I bounced off Avadon as well, after about an hour and a half. I don't think the introduction to the game is the best, I might try it again. Maybe it was combat, maybe it was the somewhat generic fantasy at the beginning, maybe it was that you started out at a place of moral relativism. I'll load up my old save and see what's up.

I would highly, highly recommend Avernum and Geneforge. The games have a great focus on exploration, and some really interesting thematic stuff.

Geneforge has a Baldur's Gate 1 style of exploration. You load fairly large, fairly freeform maps, and different exits lead to new fairly large maps. They have the benefit of being very open (particularly the first 2 games), and it's something where you discover the story rather than being dragged along by it, which is nice. The writing is decent (I enjoyed the writing better than recent Bioware games). It's a fascinating struggle that revolves around the amount of control wizards need to exercise over a society with genetic engineering (when they fuck up they make plagues), and has some eugenics commentary in it. I'd say geneforge has slightly more satisfying combat, because you can play as a shaper and make and remake NPCs to your desires. Since your creations gain experience / share experience with you, you frequently are faced with a fairly significant choice about whether you want to unmake an experienced low tier creature to get an inexperienced high tier creature. The answer (and optimal creature) changes with each game. Also it just makes you feel badass to walk around with two dragons (mine were Brutus and Cassius). You also have to deal with losing control of your creatures when they're terrified.

Avernum (or the one one I've played) is peerless in its understanding of the joys of exploration. About 1/3 to 1/2 of the game is played on one monolithic overworld map that is 90% open from the start (if you can avoid the monsters). It even has three separate win conditions, and lets you go back in the same playthrough to do all three. You're slightly too cash-strapped in it, but it's right on that edge where it keeps you constantly hungering for equipment upgrades. It has a wonderful system for hidden objects (the buttons are on the walls, you just have to be constantly looking for them), that also aids a sense of exploration. I would say combat and leveling are far more tactical in Avernum, with a greater emphasis on positioning.

The graphics are utilitarian at best. I'm not a bleeding edge / max out settings person, so I find them serviceable if not desirable. The interface is a bit annoying; no grab all button on chests, you have to manually open your inventory and add items from the floor rather than just clicking on them, but they're minor irritants that you quickly ignore. In both games he's good to add addendums to standard dialogue when you've accomplished something noteworthy, so the plot feels more reactive than games with ten times the budget.

As you can tell, I'm quite a fan of the games. I just finished Avernum so I have a propensity to value it higher, but I'd list their quality as Geneforge 2, Avernum, Geneforge, G5, then G4, and G3 is the weakest of the set by far. I don't know why I bounced off Avadon when I liked the other games so much, but I really do like the other games.

Best part, they have huge demos (Geneforge has about a 1/3 of the game), so you can try and see if you like them.

Anyway, CK2 with a sprinkling of Mirror's Edge and Mark of the Ninja. Haven't gotten very far in MotN yet, but the others are great (have played them both before). The problem with playing CK2 along with other games is that it's not a game that is easy to drop. I started MotN a few days ago and haven't gotten further than maybe level 3.

As you can tell, I'm quite a fan of the games. I just finished Avernum so I have a propensity to value it higher, but I'd list their quality as Geneforge 2, Avernum, Geneforge, G5, then G4, and G3 is the weakest of the set by far. I don't know why I bounced off Avadon when I liked the other games so much, but I really do like the other games.

Best part, they have huge demos (Geneforge has about a 1/3 of the game), so you can try and see if you like them.

Thanks for the write up, I think you sold me. I have a limited budget this month for games and I might pick a few of these up. I'm harking for a decent story and some reading material. Plus exploring too! I like the sound of that class The Shaper, it actually sounds like a fun class to play instead of the usual warrior or mage. Its just a shame the prices are widely more expensive directly from Spiderweb then say Steam otherwise I would of brought them from there. Then again I am a bit of a tight arse.

Whaaat ... and I thought Batman: Anxiety Copulation was the rare case that did collectibles right. I mean, sure, there were a lot of them, but ... most of 'em felt challenging to get, they were mostly well hidden and there was a system in place that helped you to locate them. And about a dozen or so were really challenging.

As opposed to AC's flags which just ... were there.

Thats my main like about Batman over AC. The Creed just felt like a handful of things copy pasted over the towns with nigh on zero variation, Batman I would find something, prod and poke it for a little while trying to figure out the puzzle. It was a mini puzzle game built into the system, Assassin's Creed felt like MMO grind without the other players.
Saying that when the dust settles I still preferred Arkham Asylum. Seemed more coherent and focused while Awful Compiler, while nice, just seemed... to open? Never thought I'd say that.

Well i got surprisingly far in Alien Legacy (DOS Oldie),might even finish it.
Besides that i am *hooked* on the Blitzkrieg Mod for Company of Heroes.
Also trying the new Version of the Hw2 Complex Mod.So far i cannot spot much Difference to 8.2.4.

Multiplayerrelated i got tired with NS2 and RO2,so this Weekend (assuming my Gaming-Buddies are online) i´m probably back to Project Reality.

I just wrapped up Sleeping Dogs, which was thoroughly satisfactory. I think it's my third favourite GTA-like game, after Chinatown Wars and San Andreas. Also, I got it for a fiver and got 26 hours of fun out of it. 20p/hour is bargain entertainment!

Well i got surprisingly far in Alien Legacy (DOS Oldie),might even finish it.
Besides that i am *hooked* on the Blitzkrieg Mod for Company of Heroes.
Also trying the new Version of the Hw2 Complex Mod.So far i cannot spot much Difference to 8.2.4.

Multiplayerrelated i got tired with NS2 and RO2,so this Weekend (assuming my Gaming-Buddies are online) i´m probably back to Project Reality.

You are me in 2007-9, hopping from one strategic action game to another. Then I started playing turn based strategy games WITH MAPS.

For some reason, many old games seem to have this issue (on Windows Vista and up) and I've always fixed it by opening "Screen Resolution" window (right click on the desktop) before starting the game. I have no idea why it works but it does.
I remember seeing a fan made fix for it as well so if this doesn't resolve your issue, we can find another way.

I have just finished shadow broker dlc for ME2 with my male shep. Money well spent. Really enjoyed. Fighting, story wise... especially the end where shep talks about his relationship with tali. I found this bit to be well crafted as it gave a bit more depth to shep's character and his feelings for tali and Liara.
DLC cost me half the amount i paid for the whole game yet it was worth it.

I just wrapped up Sleeping Dogs, which was thoroughly satisfactory. I think it's my third favourite GTA-like game, after Chinatown Wars and San Andreas. Also, I got it for a fiver and got 26 hours of fun out of it. 20p/hour is bargain entertainment!

I might have a go soon since it keeps getting mentioned with surprisingly positivity around here.

Thanks for the write up, I think you sold me. I have a limited budget this month for games and I might pick a few of these up. I'm harking for a decent story and some reading material. Plus exploring too! I like the sound of that class The Shaper, it actually sounds like a fun class to play instead of the usual warrior or mage. Its just a shame the prices are widely more expensive directly from Spiderweb then say Steam otherwise I would of brought them from there. Then again I am a bit of a tight arse.

I still have a spare Geneforge Saga steam key. PM me if you're interested. I wanted to give it to someone you will play and enjoy it not just to put it in backlog(like me).

Currently playing CK2 with "The Prince and the Thane mod". Anyone have an opinion if I should use this mod or the CK2+ instead?

The problem I have playing this kind of game is I get sleep deprived and I'm ignoring other games I started.

I wrapped up some of the (free) indie games I still had squarreled away on my hard drive. Slime Bomb Knight, Luminesca, PUNKSNOTDEAD and Good Morning, Commander. Corrypt still proves too difficult for me. I also still need to finish this Serious Sam DLC, which is still pretty fun.

Been goofing around in Surgeon Simulator 2013. Definitely seems harder than the freeware version (I wasn't able to rip out the entire ribcage at once with the hammer).

Also: Finished Ending B of Nier, debating if I want to start Playthrough C just yet (should be fast as I have finished almost every quest and just have to buy weapons, but I really don't feel like going back to the Lost Shrine for a few days).

Thoughts: Well, Nier definitely averts the Infant Immortality trope. I didn't realy put two and two together to figure out that the reason all the little shades carry coloring books and the like is because they were children until Kalil met Beepy. Definitely made the waves of Shades a lot more messed up. And explains why Kaine was losing it even before Emil "died"
Also, I really like how Kaine's character makes a lot more sense after hearing her part of the story. Especially explaining how she became what she is. I especially found it nice/messed up when reading the sequence about her trying to kill the Shade that killed her Grandmother and how she laughed maniacally. Really put a VERY different twist on her "here comes the cavalry" moment at the end of Part 1. What originally seemed like "She is enjoying herself" ends up becoming "She is reliving the death of her grandmother"
And yeah, knowing what the Miniboss-squad were saying and why those fights occured definitely makes things a hell of a lot darker. Spec Ops: The Line levels of dark.

Steam: Gundato
PSN: Gundato
If you want me on either service, I suggest PMing me here first to let me know who you are.

It's been a week and a half since I've been at my PC, with the only games I've played in the mean time being Sonic CD and Tilt to Live on my iPod and then Pokémon White 2 on my DS. So, I thought I'd fire up Brutal Legend and just get on with it.